SawMaster
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I am given to understand that something like this is done in Russia, and was even done while Communism was intact. I do like the idea of being able to reject candidates as well as supporting them. I'm all for empowering the people to get what they want regardless of what is being offered to themI've been of the belief for a long time now that every ballot should be pre-printed with "None of the Above" as an option for every office. If "None of the Above" wins then a new election for the office in question would take place with every candidate on the original ballot declared ineligible to run. I have no idea what subtle unintended consequences might arise but this would hopefully put an end to voting for the lessor of evils and encourage the political parties to put forward candidates with less extremist positions.
I first became aware of this approach some years ago when we had a mayor running unopposed who, just prior to the election, made a series of bad decisions (both personal and professional). Those actions let to a grass roots campaign to write in "None of the Above" to force a new election. The number of votes cast for "None of the Above" was never published but people I spoke to at the clerk's office said it was a lot.
And it was widely known about the Trump connection with Kayne, who in the past had primarily supported Democratic candidates, sometimes quite heavily- that's the mockery and mess angle It is but one of several techniques used to manipulate voting which aren't always readily apparent or widely spoken of such as "spoiling" and "splitting" which can and do happen in many US elections right down to local levels. Methods such as "ranked balloting" are becoming more common as a way to combat the problem.
What is clear is that the people are not in power nor does the current system allow that to happen, which I am certain wasn't the intention of our Founding Fathers. Anything which brings us closer to making the changes we need to empower the people is to me a good thing, even if it causes trouble otherwise.
Phil